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Here is the sentence, and the word I am trying to replace is multitude:

Address Translation can then be used so that a multitude of hosts using Private addresses could be translated to a much smaller set of Public addresses, which can be routed on the Internet - thereby curbing the rate of which Public IPv4 addresses are being utilized.

I'm trying to communicate that 100s, or 1000s of hosts using Private addresses, but I don't want to limit the reader's understanding to a specific number (it could be 10,000s, it could be 100,000s).

Multitude seems to me too "fixed", in the sense that if the reader interprets multitude as 1000, the sentence now communicates "every set of 1000 hosts use private addresses". But the number of hosts using private addresses in each deployment can be any number.. from 10s to millions, theoretically.

I'm looking for a single word, but would also consider a short phrase, but the preference is a single word.

(it might also be that multitude is indeed the best choice, if so please let me know)

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  • 1
    'Multitude' does not to my knowledge mean a thousand, just an unspecified large number.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 17:32
  • An 'host' is possible but would depend on context and might be considered archaic.
    – Nigel J
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 21:20
  • @NigelJ Ahh, I see the implication. In my context a "host" refers to an individual entity on a computer network. It isn't implying "a host of objects" (aka, many objects). Just an individual computer host / pc / node.
    – Eddie
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 22:54
  • I feel like it should be ... so that all hosts using ... . Since this is probably a network device, you probably want to qualify it with all intercepted hosts, or something.
    – jxh
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 23:16
  • A host of hosts?
    – Michael Seifert
    Commented Nov 14, 2017 at 20:08

2 Answers 2

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Almost limitless.

Any number of.

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  • 1
    +1 for "any number of", which was what I was going to suggest.
    – Michael Seifert
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 17:54
  • This is perfect. Thanks Gary / @MichaelSeifert
    – Eddie
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 23:29
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An array means a large number of items :

Array : a group of people or things, especially one that is large or impressive

'a vast/impressive/wide array'

Longman's

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    "Array" has a rather specialized sense in computer applications (it means a set of structured data, sort of like a table of numbers.) So it might not be the best choice here.
    – Michael Seifert
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 17:53
  • 1
    @MichaelSeifert It also bears a much wider meaning, originally, and presently.
    – Nigel J
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 20:40
  • Thanks for the suggestion, Nigel, but I'm with @MichaelSeifert here, if I used array the reader might infer a programming construct -- the article/blog is technical by nature, so it would be a natural.
    – Eddie
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 23:29

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